Post-supported fences and walls have been used in numerous settings for hundreds of years. In such fences or walls, substantially horizontal rails are supported by substantially vertical posts. Generally, the supporting posts of such fences are buried into the ground.
The posts for early post-supported fences and walls were fabricated largely if not entirely from wood. Unfortunately, wood is adversely affected by environmental conditions over a relatively short period of time, especially when buried in the ground. Recently, therefore, wooden posts have been replaced in many instances by concrete or metallic posts better suited to withstand the extremes of temperature and moisture required of an outdoor system.
In the past it also has been very difficult to construct post-supported fences and walls and to replace damaged rails in post-supported fences or walls. In many cases it was necessary to remove the post adjacent a damaged rail from the ground to repair or replace the damaged rail. In an attempt to facilitate the construction of fences and walls and to facilitate the repair thereof, a number of modular fencing systems have been proposed.
Nonetheless, the modular systems currently available suffer from a number of significant drawbacks. For example, such systems are often difficult to assemble. Moreover, it is often difficult to lay out such modular systems in a desired geometric arrangement. Still further, many such modular systems are not sturdy enough for use in many settings.
It is, therefore, desirable to develop a support post and support post system that minimizes or eliminates these and other drawbacks associated with current posts and support post systems.